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EXPLORE FURTHER: A brief 30-second examination that might uncover an undiagnosed brain tumor
An individual from Yorkshire, suffering from terminal brain tumours, managed to complete the
London
A marathon in just three hours and sixteen minutes, barely a year after losing his ability to walk.
George Wade, aged 41, hails from Thirsk in Yorkshire and has been diagnosed with two
cancerous growths
Last April, following a bout of symptoms that he had initially dismissed.
The initial indication was severe
headache
, which occurred one morning after returning from a wine-filled weekend in Cheltenham.
Strangely enough, he discovered that staring at the car lights caused him nausea.
“I simply believed it was akin to a massive hangover from Cheltenham and exhausting myself,” he stated.
However, after just one month, Mr. Wade started encountering symptoms akin to those of a stroke, including the
the left side of his face and body turning limp and sagging.
He called his general practitioner brother-in-law, who calmed his worries regarding the incident and organized for him to undergo blood and vision tests, with all results coming back normal.
He had scheduled an optional MRI scan for April 18, just three days prior to his planned participation in the Blackpool Marathon.
The moment they extracted me, the entire demeanor of the nursing staff appeared altered,” he stated.
He was told a consultant would see him, and during the five-minute wait he began accepting the idea of being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
But when he found out he had two tumours he felt hopeless. Mr Wade was diagnosed with two astrocytoma tumours, which are often aggressive.
One was categorized as grade four—a size comparable to a tennis ball—while another was a growth the dimensions of a golf ball situated in the center of his brain.
‘Oddly enough, I thought having one might be manageable,’ he explained. ‘But two… I just figured, I can’t handle this. If someone has two brain tumors, they probably wouldn’t survive.’
Physicians informed Mr. Wade that the tumors may have been present for as long as two decades, and his symptoms emerged when his brain simply could not accommodate them anymore.
He was sent to UCL Hospital at London’s Queen’s Square and began conducting telemedicine sessions regarding his treatment by the following week.
Before his operation, physicians administered steroids to decrease swelling in his brain; however, these medications led to symptoms of mania and paranoia during his hospital stay, which resulted in him being kept in a psychiatric unit for four days.
In June, Mr. Wade had an eight-hour operation to excise his large tumor and later required a second surgical intervention of about two hours to address bleeding in the brain.
After waking up from surgery, Mr. Wade mentioned that he was unable to open his left hand or walk correctly, thus he needed to collaborate with physiotherapists to restore his mobility.
Mr. Wade felt that achieving a marathon seemed “a million miles away” as he re-learned how to walk on his own, yet he managed to walk unassisted within two days and ran a month later.
In July he started chemotherapy, taking temozolomide pills once a month for six months.
However, during the same period, he experienced an eye issue caused by fluid leakage from his skull. Consequently, he had additional surgeries and received eight courses of antibiotic treatment for this condition.
Currently, he continues to receive treatment for an ongoing skin infection and undergoes scans every three months. Although doctors characterize his condition as ‘life-limiting,’ they haven’t provided a definitive prognosis.
Even so, he feels “extremely fit and healthy.”
Mr. Wade was able to complete the London Marathon this year at an impressive record-breaking pace.
as part of the National Brain Appeal fundraising efforts
, just two months after his final surgery.
He stated, “I somewhat believed that I was sufficiently fit to achieve a personal record. Therefore, I was genuinely delighted that everything went smoothly and it turned out to be my quickest marathon ever.”
‘I love a challenge, and I love a battle. One: I’m 41 and super fit, and two: I’m determined and we’re going to battle through it,’ he added.
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